Westport Man Accused Of Stabbing Bible With A Knife As A Threat: PD

WESTPORT, CT — A 67-year-old Westport man was arrested last week in connection with a protection order violation in which Westport police said the suspect set a grass fire, and stabbed a bible as a threat.

The suspect was arrested Thursday and charged with criminal violation of a civil protection order, a felony, and third-degree criminal mischief.

The incident occurred in early July, when the complainant arrived home from work and found a bible on a table near their home "that was opened to a specific verse and a knife stabbed through the pages."

A civil protection order had been issued about a month earlier against the suspect, who lives near the complaint, barring the suspect "from assaulting, threatening, abusing, harassing, following, interfering with or stalking" the individual, according to police.

The complainant and the suspect "have a history," which led the complainant to consider the stabbed bible as a threat and harassment.

A few days later, police and fire personnel were called to the suspect's home on a report of a fire, and found the suspect in the backyard where grass had been burned and extinguished.

"The investigation revealed that [the suspect] had been performing some sort of 'ritual' when he set the grass on fire," wrote Westport Police Lt. Eric Woods in a statement.

An arrest warrant was obtained, and the suspect was found at a bus stop and was taken into custody.

He was released after posting bond on bail of $50,000, and is scheduled to appear in Stamford Superior Court on Aug. 22.